Electrical remote control device



. ay 14, 1946. W. GHAPIN ZAQB-B ELECTRICAL REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE Filed Oct. 27, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fly. 1.

v ATTORNEYS May 14, 1946. B. w. HAPMN ELECTRICAL REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 27, 1943 ATTORNEYS Patented May 14, 1946 ELECTRICAL REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE Bryan W. Chapin, Kenmore, N. Y., assignor to Spriesch Tool and Manufacturing Company,

Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

Application October 27, 1943, Serial No. 507,779

Claims.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an electric remote control device of improved construction, by means of which an electrical apparatus may be actuated at a distance to turn through any desired number of revolutions and through fractions of revolutions in synchronism with a rotatable transmitting member. Another object is to provide a device of this ldnd in which the accuracy of the device is greatly increased by means of gearing.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an apparatus oi this kind, by means of which any desired amount of power may be provided in the receiving unit of the remote control device for doing work in accordance with the manipulation of a power transmitting device.

It is also an object of this invention to provide apparatus oi this type with means of improved construction for varying the amount of current supplied to the receiving unit during the operation or the apparatus. A further object is to provide an apparatus of this kind by means of which the power delivered to the receiving apparatus is increased when the receiving apparatus is subjected to rapid rotation. Other objects of this invention will appear from the following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face View of an electric remote control device embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevation thereof, on line 2--2, Fig. 1, and reversed end for end.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are respectively sectional views thereof, on line 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view approximately on line 6-8, Fig. 1.

Fig, '7 is a transverse section thereof, on line 7l, Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of the electrical connections.

In the particular embodiment of this invention shown by way of example in the drawings, It represents the housing of a transmitting or controlling apparatus or device which includes a rotatable shaft H, and which as shown in Fig. 1, may have a suitable gear I2 mounted thereon, which in turn may be driven by a larger gear l3 secured on a shaft I 4. This transmitting device is connected by means of a cable l5 including a plurality of wires insulated from each other, to a receiving or power apparatus having a housing it and a revolvable shaft I! which prefer ably also has a gear l8 thereon driving a larger gear i9 mounted on the shaft 20. The transmitting device may be easily turned for directing current to various of the conductors in the cable iii and this current operates a motor which may be of any suitable or desired size in the housing it for delivering the desired amount of power to the shaft i'l.

The transmitting instrument or device preferably includes a series of contacts arranged in a circle. In the construction illustrated, I employ a commutator including a plurality of contacts or segments 26, and a plurality of brushes 25 which contact therewith, see particularly Figs. 2 and 5. The brushes and commutator are rotatable relatively to each other to enable the brushes to contact with diiierent segments of the commutator. in the particular construction shown, the commutator is stationarily mounted on an end plate 25 suitably secured to the housing it of the transmitting device, and the brushes 25 are mounted in a revolving disk or frame member 2'1 which may be rigidly mounted on the shaft ii, or as hereinafter described. this member 27 may be rotatably mounted on the shaft and may be rotated from a bushing 28 secured to the shaft ii. This dish or frame member 2] may. for example, be made of insulating material having the brushes 25 mounted in cylindrical guide sleeves or cups 29 having springs 3t therein which press the brushes against the commutator segments 24. Four brushes are shown in the construction illustrated, but two brushes may be provided or more than four brushes, as may be desired. Brushes or contact devices of any other suitable form may be provided, if desired. Cur

rent may be supplied to the revolvable brushes in any suitable manner, for example, by means of a slip ring, which may be mounted on a disk 33 which in turn is suitably mounted on the insulating frame member 21 which carries the brushes. For example, the member 21 may have an extension 32 of semi-cylindrical form to which the disk 33 may be secured, for example, by means of screws as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The disk 33 may have a slip ring 35 mounted thereon and suitably insulated therefrom and connected with one set of brushes 29 by any suitable conductor not shown in Fig. 2, but indicated in the wiring diagram in Fig. 8. The other set of brushes may be connected directly to the disk 33 which may have an annular surface 36 formed thereon, thus producing a collector ring integral with the disk. Electric current. may be transmitted to the collector rings 35 and 36 inany suitable manner, for exam-pie, by means of brushes 31 and 28, suitably mounted on and insulated from an end wall 39 of the housing I0.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that if the shaft H is rotated, the brushes 29 of the frame member 21 will contact with different segments 24 of the commutator and current will pass through these segments and through the conductors connected therewith which extend in the form of a cable It into the receiver housing IS.

The receiver as clearly shown in Figs. 6 to 8 may be in the form of a motor having a stationary armature and revolving fields, the armature including a core l2 wound with a series of coils connected with the conductors in the cable ii. The armature core 42 of this motor is, as usual, provided with a series of longitudinal slots 43 therein to receive the armature coils l4. These coils may be wound in any suitable or desired manner, and as indicated in Fig. 8, each coil spans one slot 43. Each coil has a tap leading to one of the conductors of the cable I as clearly shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8. Consequently, asth 3 5 395 i Fig, 8 move about the commutator, current will be conducted to different coils'of the armature through the cable l5, thus producing a revolvin magnetic field.

The pole pieces of the motor are mounted on the shaft of the motor and revolve within the armature, the pole pieces including any usual or suitable iron cores 41 having field coils 48 around them to which electric current may be conducted from any suitable source of power through collector rings Ill and ii which, in the construction illustrated, are mounted on the opposite ends of the core 41 of the rotating field, and these collector rings may be connected to the field coils 48 in any suitable manner. Current may be conducted to the collector rings 50 and 5| by means of brushes 52 and 51 mounted on and insulated from the end walls 54 and B5 in the motor housing. Obviously as the magnetism in the armature moves about the axis of the shaft l1, ii the field is excited, the shaft l1 will be revolved or turned to the same extent as the brushes 29 of the transmitter apparatus. By having the brushes I2 and I3 bear against opposite sides of the revolving pole pieces, the end thrust of one brush will be counteracted by the end thrust of the other brush.

By inspection of the diagram as shown in Fig. 8, it will be clear that the revolving field will be moved into many more diiferent positions about the axis of the shaft 11 than the number oi segments on the commutator, this being due to the fact that the brushes may at times contact more than one segment. By making the brushes of somewhat larger cross sectional area than shown in the drawings, so that each brush will always contact at least two segments of the commutator, a still higher degree of accuracy may be obtained, if desired. The motor may be built of any suitable or desired size so that'practically any desired amount of power may be developed at the receiving end.

' tion does not exceed the acceleration of the field for a set voltage and ampere load rating; Con- 1 the motor shaft 11.

sequently, the pole pieces will rotate synchronously within the speed range of the apparatus and the rotatable field will also assume angular positions approximating very closely the angular positions of the brushes relatively to the commutator.

Since the number of segments in the commutator and the number of slots of the armature are necessarily limited, there will of necessity be small angles of movement of the brushes which will not result in corresponding movements of This error can, however, be reduced to any desired extent by means of the gearing connected with the shafts II and I1. For example, if the ratio of the gears i3 and ii to the gears l2 and I8 is ten to one, then the error in movement of the shaft i4 relatively to shaft 20 will be reduced to approximately one-tenth of that between the shafts ii and I1.

It is, of course, desirable at times to rotate the brushes very slowly or to leave the brushes in a fixed position for a considerable period of time, and since it takes very much less power to hold the pole pieces and shaft 11 in fixed position than to rotate them, I have provided means for varying the current supplied to the armature by the rotating brushes, and in the construction 11- lustrated by way of example, this may be accomplished by means which may be mounted on the disk or frame 21 and on the hub 28 of the shaft ii of the transmitter, and which are shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 8. When such means are employed, the brush carrying frame or disk 21 is preferably mounted to have at least limited movement about the shaft H and rotary motion of the shaft is transmitted to this disk or frame by means of a rod or arm 80 secured to and extending outwardly from the hub 28. The arm 80 is made of conducting material and is insulated from the shaft 1 I and for this purpose, the hub or sleeve 28 is preferably made of insulating material having the arm 50 molded or otherwise suitably secured thereto. This arm is arranged with its outer end between two con tacts GI and 62 which are suitably secured on the disk or frame 21. Consequently, when the shaft H is rotated in one direction, the arm will move into engagement with one of the contacts and will impart rotary motion to the brush ying disk 21. When the shaft H is turned in the opposite direction, the arm engages the other contact and moves the disk 21 in the opposite direction, the arm preferably having contacts engaging the contacts BI and B2.

Suitable means are provided for normally holding the arm I0 out of engagement with both of the contacts II and 62 and by way of example.

I have shown in Fig. 4 a pair of springs 83 and N which are suitably mounted on the disk 21 and engage opposite sides of the arm so as to hold the same in the position shown in Fig. 4, in which it engages either of the two contacts Bi and 82. 0| represents a resistance which may be mounted on the disk 21 or otherwise, and which is normally connected in the circuit leading to one set of brushes 2!. When the arm l engages either 01' the contacts I and 82, the resistance II is short-circuited. Consequently, when sufficient torque is applied to the shaft II to overcome the resistance of the springs, the arm 80 short-circults the resistance u so that an ample supply of current will pass to the receiver motor to effect rotation of the same. When no torque or only a slight torque is applied to the shaft i I, the springs 02 and I will move the arm I into neutral or midway position between the two contacts SI and 62 so that the resistance 65 again is in the circuit,

time, the arm 60 may, consequently, move out of engagement with its contacts, thus reducing the current supplied to the motor. However, since the motor might require considerable current while being rotated in this manner, I preferably provide means for short-circuiting the resistance 65 when the shaft ll attains a certain speed. In the construction shown by way of example, I provide on the insulating disk 21 a, contact 10 and I also provide another contact H n one end of a spring 12, the other end of which may be secured to the disk 21. The free end of the spring may also b provided with ai'small weight 13 so that when the shaft II is rotating, the spring will vbemoved by'centrifugal force-so that its contact ll will engage thecontact 10 on the disk 21 to shortcircuit the resistance 65.

Fig. 8 shows the electrical connections between the various parts of the apparatus which have been described, and inthis flgure';"L and U represent two power supply lines. In the particular diagram shown, the field coils of the motor are connected in series with the armature, and consequently, conductor 80 connects the line L with one terminal of the field winding through one of the brushes 52 or 53 and the other brush connects with conductor 8| which extends to the brush 38 contacting with collector ring 35. The other line L' is connected to the other brush 3! contacting with the collector ring 33. It will be understood that the field coils of the receiver motor may be connected either in series or in parallel with the armature. In the diagram, the current to the field coils as well as to the armature is varied by including the resistance 65 in the circuit or by short-circuiting this resistance, but the field current and the armature current may, if desired, be controlled separately or jointly by any other suitable means, and if desired, the current for exciting the field may be obtained from a different source of power than that supplying the commutator and armature.

Current from the brush 38 passes throu h t collector ring 35 and by means of conductors 15 to one pair of brushes which act on the commutator segments 24. A conductor 16 carries current from the disk 33 to one end of the resistance 65 and also to the arm 60 and to the contact member 10. The other end of the resistance 85 is connected by means of conductor 11 to the other two brushes 25, the conductor 11 also being connected with the terminals BI and 82. Each of the segments 24 of the commutator is connected by a single conductor forming a part of the cable I5 to a connection or terminal between adjacent armature coils 44.

From this wiring diagram, it will be obvious torque is no longer applied to the shaft I I, where-.

upon the arm 80, will assume a position intermediate of the two contacts GI and 62, so that further current passing through the brushes will also have to pass through the resistance 65. When the shaft II has been brought up to the desired speed of rotation so that no further acceleration takes place, the arm 60 will again assume its position out of engagement with the contacts SI and 62 which would tend to cause the current to flow through the resistance 65 but if the speed of the shaft II is sufficient, the contacts H and 10 will engage, thus again short-circuiting the resistance 65 so that an ample supply to the commutator and motor will be ensured, thus preventing the motor from getting out of phase with the commutator.

While I have shown in Fig. 8, the conductors in the cable l5 connecting the armature coils and commutator segments in such order that the armature rotates in the same direction as the brushes, it will be obvious that the connections may be made in reverse order, so that clockwise rotation of the brushes on the commutator will result in counterclockwise rotation of the pole pieces. The apparatus will operate either on di- 'rect or alternating current.

possible to provide two or more receiver motors connected for operation by a single transmitter. These motors are preferably similar and will.

consequently, have the same lag characteristics with reference to the transmitter, and consequently, if for example one motor operates a gun and the other a sight, the gun and sight will at all times be operated in exact synchronism with each other.

I claim as my invention: '7

1. A transmitter for a remote control device comprising a commutator having a plurality of segments, brushes connected with a source of current supply and contacting said commutator, said commutator and said brushes being rotatable relatively to each other to cause said brushes to contact with different segments of said commutator, and means operated by torque applied to produce relative rotation of said commutator and brushes for supplying an increased current to said motor during application of said torque.

2. A transmitter for a remote control device comprising a commutator having a plurality of segments, brushes connected with a source of current supply and contacting said commutator, said commutator and said brushes being rotatable relatively to each other to cause said brushes to contact with different segments of said commutator, a, resistance controlling the current supplied to said commutator, and means actuated by torque applied to produce relative movement'of said commutator and brushes for short-circuiting said resistance.

3. A transmitter for a remote control device including a commutator and brushes and means including a current carrying arm for producing relative movements of said commutator and brushes, contacts engaged by said arm when moved in either direction for producing said sponsive to centrifugal force for short-circuiting said resistance when said means are rotated in excess of a predetermined speed.

5. A transmitter for a remote control device comprising a commutator and brushes and means for producing relative motion or said commutator and brushes, a resistance for reducing the amount oi! current supplied to said commutator, and connections for short-circuiting said resistance in response to torque applied to said motion producin! means.

BRYAN W. CHAPIN. 

